My Top Pick for 2012

It was a difficult choice between Star Scientific (CIGX) and Interdigital (NASDAQ:IDCC) for my top pick in 2012. Also in contention was Tessera (NASDAQ:TSRA) and Dendreon (NASDAQ:DNDN). Although TSRA is significantly undervalued, it simply doesn't have the same upside on a percentage basis that CIGX and IDCC have.

I think TSRA will sign major new licensees in early 2012, and they are a likely acquisition target for a company like Qualcomm or Sony, so they could easily be a triple in 2012 (especially if they figure out the best way to monetize their money losing Digital Optics division and the disruptive MEMS patents).

Dendreon (DNDN) needs to recover from their stumble in launching Provenge when their management set unrealistic expectations. But, they too could triple in 2012. By the end of Q2, DNDN should be showing significant progress as new infusion centers come on line and doctors are more willing to recommend Provenge to their patients now that the reimbursement policies have changed.

IDCC has the IP that covers 4G/LTE, both for handsets and for the infrastructure side. In my opinion, IDCC could also be a double or a triple in 2012 when the dust settles, especially if a bidding war eventually ensues.

But I predict that Star Scientific (CIGX) will be the big winner in 2012. CIGX has the possibility of being another "It Stock" ala QCOM in 1999. If you have never read this article in Money Magazine, I highly recommend you read it...if only for nostalgia purposes. I think CIGX has the possibility of being at least a tenbagger in 2012.

Why am I so high on Star Scientific? First...a little history.

Star Scientific is a small money losing company located outside Richmond, VA that developed and patented a methodology to cure tobacco that virtually eliminates the formation of the primary carcinogen in tobacco (TSNA's or tobacco specific nitrosamines). They patented a process to cure tobacco that controlled the heat, humidity, and the aerobic conditions in the curing barns that reduced the TSNA's to below detectable levels (NYSEMKT:BDL). Those patents were just recently validated by the US Patent and Trademark Office and by the Federal courts. Later this year Star will likely be filing new lawsuits against RJ Reynolds and Philip Morris, but that is not the interesting part of this story. The interesting part of the story revolves around the health effects of another compound they found in tobacco.

While Star Scientific was working on ways to benefit smokers from their knowledge of tobacco, they started searching for the substance in tobacco that caused addiction (they suspected there was something in addition to nicotine and they were correct). They found another substance in tobacco similar to nicotine called anatabine. It's a minor alkaloid in tobacco (and also in green tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and cucumbers) that Star discovered had some remarkable properties to reduce inflammation.

They started marketing a product called CIGRx (a stop smoking product) about 18 months ago. People taking CIGRx to stop smoking started noticing unforeseen health benefits (especially those with autoimmune diseases). FYI, CIGRx has .3 mg of anatabine, and their new product, just released in late August is called Anatabloc and it has 1 mg of anatabine (or ~3.3 times as much).

The company got independent medical experts involved from Johns Hopkins and from the Roskamp Institute in Sarasota, FL (an independent research facility on aging and Alzheimers partially funded by NIH). These experts have all been studying the anti-inflammatory response for patients taking Anatabloc (code name RCP-006). They have now verified that Anatabine (Anatabloc) has some remarkable properties to reduce inflammation. Because it is a nutraceutical, Star Scientific was able to get it to market much faster than a drug because it did not have to go through the FDA drug approval process. They also found a way to synthesize it artificially and make pure Anatabine. It is now available by mail order over the internet at anatabloc.com. The product is safe because it is a nutraceutical (found in everyday foods such as tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers at lower concentrations). We can't eat 20 pounds of green tomatoes every day (~the amount of Anatabine needed for the immune response), but we can take six tablets (lozenges) of Anatabloc. Attached below is a good background article on inflammation that was in Time Magazine a few years ago. In a nutshell, it says that inflammation may be the root cause of a variety of illnesses (including auto immune diseases, heart disease, Parkinsons, Alzheimers and many cancers).

People have now been taking Anatabloc for several months and have experienced relief from a variety of afflictions related to autoimmune diseases and other serious conditions. Here is a recent news piece from a CBS affiliate station in Michigan (WNEM) where a reporter interviewed a woman participating in one of the Anatabloc human trials. They also interviewed the local doctor (Dr. Dale Wislson) who was coordinating the trial. Watch the video linked below (and pay close attention to what Dr. Wilson says near the end about participants in the trial showing a "marked response"). These results should be released in early 2012.

Testimonials on the internet started appearing about 12 months ago, shortly after people started using CIGRx. The anti-inflammatory properties of anatabine was helping a variety of people with autoimmune diseases. I saw some of these testimonials myself, yet I was extremely skeptical of all this until I learned that physicians from Johns Hopkins and the Roskamp Institute had verified these anti-inflammatory properties. Dr. Paul Ladenson (Director of Endocrinology and Metabolism at Johns Hopkins), Dr. Patruzo Caturegli of Johns Hopkins, and Dr. Michael Mullan (Director of the Roskamp Institute in Sarasota, FL) had tested Anatabloc and were fully convinced about the efficacy for reducing inflammation (they are now giving seminars to other physicians).

My Experience with Anatabloc

I wanted to see for myself if this stuff really worked, so in early July (before Anatabloc was available, I started taking CIGRx). At the time, my Rheumatoid Arthritis was about 90% under control from Humira and Methotrexate. But since I started taking CIGRx (in September I changed to Anatabloc), I have seen significant benefits. In the past, I couldn't play 18 holes of golf without the joints in my hand becoming inflamed to the point I couldn't play golf the next day. On a recent beach trip with the family, I was able to play golf with my sons for 4 straight days (36 holes on two days), without any swelling whatsoever. My asthma is better than it has been in years and I no longer even use an Albuterol inhaler. My tennis elbow and knees no longer ache (three knee surgeries from 2 meniscus tears and a torn ACL). Other additional benefits I have noticed are my sinuses are clear, I sleep better, I have more energy, and my urine stream is much stronger. There are numerous other similar positive stories now being reported on the internet.

Anatabine Test Results

Anatabine has passed numerous studies in mammals and is now being used in several clinical trials with humans. Attached below are links to Anatabloc's (code name RCP-006) anti-inflammatory test results released from the The Roskamp Institute. They reveal that Anatabine (Anatabloc) reduces inflammation much better than Aspirin, Advil or Celebrex (by a factor of four or more). Other test results on mice and rats have shown Anatabine to be non-toxic even at extremely high doses (100 times the equivalent recommended dose for humans). The first product that Star Scientific sold with anatabine was CIGRx to help smokers stop smoking. CIGRx only had .3 mg of Anatabine or about 1/3rd the anatabine content that is in their new product (Anatabloc has 1 mg). Over 170,000 people have taken CIGRx to stop smoking with no reported side effects or drug interactions, so anatabine is apparently safe. Below are the results published by the Roskamp Insitute on the ability of Anatabine to reduce inflammation.

After all my due diligence, I believe Anatabloc will have significant benefits for numerous auto-immune diseases associated with inflammation (including Rheumatoid Arthritis, Asthma, Crohn's Disease, MS, etc.). Recent testimonials on the internet also support the fact that it has greatly benefitted people with other conditions associated with inflammation associated with NF-kB (including cancers, Alzheimers, Parkinsons etc.). Although Anatabloc is only available by internet mail order, and has only been on the market for about 4 months, there have been dozens of anecdotal stories of miraculous cures posted on the internet. For example...here is one posted by someone who was apparently cured of bladder cancer.

There are dozens of testmonials like this, from Plantar Fasciatis to Periodontitis. The world is waiting for Star to release peer reviewed medical journal articles and studies of on-going human trials on Anatabloc. The first medical journal article (on In-vivo and In-Vitro effects of Anatabine for Alzhiemers) was just released about 3 months ago, but more should be coming out in early 2012.

One issue that Star faces is the advertising limitations of selling this product as a nutraceutical. The FDA has been known to come down hard on companies that make unsubstantiated claims of health benefits, so Anatabloc usage has mostly been spurred by word of mouth. The company will severely limit their advertising until there are independent peer reviewed physician reports on the human studies. Numerous peer reviewed studies on Anatabine should start showing up in the press and in legitimate medical journals in 2012. Star Scientific is now holding educational seminars for Physicians (being conducted by Dr. Paul Ladenson, the Director of Endocrinology and Metabolism at Johns Hopkins) and Dr. Michael Mullan (Director of the Roskamp Institute). In October they held three seminars in VA, MI and CA. They also have a facebook page for Anatabloc. The first peer reviewed article on Anatabine's possible use in Alzheimers recently came out in the European Journal of Pharmacology. Patrick Cox (a technology stock analyst who has toured the Roskamp Institute and talked to physicians at Johns Hopkins involved with Anatabloc studies) wrote an article about Anatabloc (attached below) that explains the huge upside of a nutraceutical that can stop NF-kB inflammation.

I personally know about three dozen people who have taken Anatabloc, and all but two have reported positive benefits (some have reported numerous positive benefits). I'm sure it won't help everybody, but it seems to help most people. These positive reports are not a simple placebo effect, because I know of several people (myself included), who have their symptoms return when not taking Anatabloc for several days.

At present, all we know is that Anatabloc does assist in preventing the NF-kB inflammation process from going haywire in the body. So, in theory, any human disease condition caused by excess NF-kB inflammation could be helped by Anatabloc.

In case you are interested, here are a few human diseases where NF-kB inflammation plays a role.

On this page are listed several diseases in which activation of NF-kB has been implicated. For general reviews on the role of NF-kB in disease, see Aradhya & Nelson (2001), Kumar et al (2004), Yamamoto & Gaynor (2002) or Baldwin (2001). For specific diseases see the listed references, which can be found either on this site (under References) or at PubMed (through the linked references).